J R
04-15-2005, 01:14 PM
It was Sunday May 2 2004 and I hooked up with my favorite party boat. Out at the Horseshoe the bite was on and by day?s end this trip proved to be very productive. By evening I was headed back home from Cape May with a cooler of iced-down fillets waiting to be vacuum sealed and I kept thinking about the following weekend when I would get my next chance to fish. Later on in the week and as Sunday approached, the forecast was for small craft warnings but it really didn?t matter. All I knew was come hell or high water I was going to get back down there one way or another. When I arrived at the dock the next Sunday morning there they were - the dozen or so die-hards just like myself from trip the week before. I guess they all saw the same window of opportunity that I did. At eight o?clock under marginal conditions our boat left the dock, headed through the canal and by the time we got out onto the bay the Northwest headwinds were washing water over the bridge. I didn?t even see any other boats out there that morning. But we hung in there and as luck would have it a little later on wouldn?t you know the weather cleared up and it turned out to be one of the most beautiful days of the entire year. Picture this - a dozen determined Striper fishermen, an eighty foot party boat, the whole Delaware Bay - all to ourselves and the Bass went absolutely berserk! I just missed qualifying for the thousand dollar progressive pool by only one pound with a twenty-four pounder. The guy fishing next to me hit the progressive with a forty pounder on light tackle. We even landed a half dozen Drum up to forty pounds. I will never forget May 9 2004. I hope this year?s Spring Run turns out to be as much fun as it was last year.